1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to preparations that assist in weight loss, and in particular relates to preparations and a method for reducing weight by means of appetite suppression.
2. Description of the Related Art
Overweight and obesity are major problems in the western community due to increased consumption and changes in nutritional value of foods that are consumed. Many humans, and their companion animals, suffer from overweight. Today obesity is one of the most serious health problems in the United States, with approximately 30% of adults suffering from obesity, and at least 50% of adults in the United States being overweight. The problem of obesity in the United States and most western countries has been steadily increasing in the last several decades. Such obesity has caused or contributed to a marked increase in the occurrence of heart diseases, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis and increased morbidity and mortality. There is also recent research which links obesity with different types of cancer, particularly breast cancer. Obesity is a serious public health hazard, second in importance only to tobacco. Being overweight reduces lifespan as well as quality of life.
There are many methods suggested for management of obesity and overweight. These include diets that exclude fats and high caloric elements, appetite suppressants, psychotherapeutic techniques and operative techniques. One of the most common methods is the use of stimulants. Amphetamine-like agents act on the brain to reduce the sensation of hunger. Experience indicates that most of the appetite suppressants work for a short period of time, but a few weeks or a few months later they lose most of their potency and patients start regaining weight. There is also a serious problem with the maintenance of a desirable weight after it is achieved, for the simple reason that appetite suppressants cannot be continued indefinitely at full strength.
The reason that most people become overweight is that they consume more nutrition calories than they require. Also, food is readily available and relatively inexpensive in the developed countries, resulting in inordinate consumption, regulated not only by necessity but also by satisfaction of the palate. In other words, humans do not only eat to survive, but also eat for the taste, flavor and gratification. The degree of the satiety has changed and is predicated not only the necessary nutritional requirements but also on unphysiological “unnatural” pleasure drive.
The complex mechanism that is triggered in the mammalian body during food digestion is characterized by multiple interdependent processes where different hormones with multiple functions influence different organs at the same time, and by that means allow the whole body to function properly.
One of the necessary sensations which completes the mechanism of digestion is satiety. There are many unknown areas in our knowledge of satiety, but the number hormones known to participate in the process of digestion also play a significant role inducing a sense of satiety.
Gastrointestinal peptides are predominantly polypeptides produced in and secreted from specialized gut endocrine cells as well as nerves. The production of gastrointestinal hormones increases when gut endocrine cells are stimulated by food, intraluminal pH, releasing factors, other transmitters or hormones. A number of fairly well-known gastrointestinal hormones are amylin, CCK (cholecystokinin), gastrin, secretin, enterostatin, and neuropeptide Y [3-36]. All of these hormones play their specific role in digestion processes confined to the intestinal tract, and also participate in transmitting information to the brain enabling the brain to be well appraised of the quantity and quality of food being consumed and thus modulating and regulating the amount of food intake from meal to meal. Information from the gastrointestinal tract and oropharynx is newly transmitted to the brain.
It has been proven that hormones reach tractus solitarius via the hypothalamus and concentrating there, they induce satiety, among them CCK, amylin and possibly insulin. Amylin and CCK also reduce gastric emptying and intestinal mobility and thus delay the delivering of food to the intestines and contribute to the early sense of the satiety and as a result limit the overall quantity of food being consumed during a particular meal.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a product and a treatment method using certain food ingredients with limited nutritional value but capable of stimulating the intestinal tract to make it possible to reach an early stage of satiety. Such ingredients potentially include but are not limited to pepper, mustard, cinnamon, sugar, sugar substitutes, salt, alcohol, proteins, albumins, and cellulose.
It is a further object of the invention is to provide a composition for effective control of the weight of the mammal to which the composition is administered.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a weight control composition of food products that can act to control the weight of a mammal to which the composition is administered through suppressing the appetite through an early sense of satiety.
It is a further object of the invention to provide methods of administration a composition of food products to control weight without notable side effects.
Other objects and advantages will be more fully apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.